1. Tap into the island’s artistic side. In the southern beachside town of Rawai, a handful of creative spaces are showcasing homegrown talent. Painters, musicians and even a master puppeteer have set up shop in the self-styled Phuket Art Village. The most striking space is the funky Love Art studio, built with colored driftwood gathered from nearby beaches. The Red Gallery, whose owner created the informal collective, serves as the anchor. The work spaces, like the art, are all constructed by hand, giving a rough-hewn and casual vibe.

2. Explore Phuket’s boomtown past. Long before the island was discovered by sun-seeking tourists, Phuket made its fortune in the 19th century as a tin-mining hub that drew Chinese migrants. Old Town Phuket is lined with grand old mansions and wooden shophouses from those prosperous early days, and a stroll in this heritage-filled district reveals the island’s distinctive Sino-Portuguese architecture. Stop for coffee at Kopitiam by Wilai, a former shopfront-turned-café, browse for goodies at vintage shop Since 1892, or snack on deep-fried roti filled with egg, curry or banana at Aroon.

3. Sample southern Thai flavors in a house fit for royalty. For those in the know, Raya is a must-stop on the culinary map. Set in a century-old house, it specializes in Phuket’s local cuisine, which combines Thai, Malay and Chinese influences. Order the house specialties: crabmeat curry with vermicelli, caramelized pork belly, deep-fried pork strips, and sea bass in tamarind and lemongrass sauce. The restaurant, with its stained-glass windows, wood-beamed ceilings and colored mosaic tiles, evokes an earlier era. Small wonder that Raya has drawn its share of fans among celebrities and even Thai royalty, whose photos line the wall. 48 New Dibuk Cross Rd., Phuket Old Town; Tel.: +66 76 218 155. Open daily, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

Tini Tran

Exhibits showing the Phuket’s long-term links with China on display in the island’s former Chinese school, which was turned into the Phuket Thaihua Museum.

4. Relive the journey of Chinese migrants. The historic wave of immigrants who arrived in Phuket from southern China during the 1800s is meticulously chronicled in the two-story Phuket Thaihua Museum. Drawn by mining work, overseas Chinese came from Fujian and Guangdong provinces via Malaysia, helping to transform the sleepy island. The museum, set in a former 1930s-era Chinese school, has been beautifully renovated. It has a number of high-quality exhibits detailing the Chinese migration and its impact on the island’s people, culture and cuisine. Highlights include the recreation of a wooden shophouse that shows how its residents lived. Around the corner, you can visit the elaborate, incense-shrouded Taoist temples the Chinese established. 28 Krabi Rd.; Tel.: +66 76 211 224.